Japan
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Japan
ECEC staff, leaders and their working conditions (Starting Strong Survey 2024)
  • Almost all ECEC staff in Japan report their highest level of education is above secondary schooling and participation in job-embedded training and collaborative learning is common. Only 1% of pre-primary staff in Japan report their highest level of education to be upper secondary schooling (ISCED level 3 or below), which is the lowest share across participating countries and subnational entities. In addition, 70% of staff report participation in job-embedded training and collaborative learning in the 12 months prior to the survey, which relates positively to practices with children.
  • In Japan, staff practices that foster inclusion and equity are less prevalent than in many other countries and subnational entities while staff report professional development needs in these areas. Collaboration between ECEC settings and health and social services is not very frequent, with 25% of leaders reporting consulting child development specialists (e.g. speech therapists or psychologists) at least monthly. In addition, although a majority of staff (59%) report that encouraging families to engage in play and learning activities at home, this is less frequent than in other countries and subnational entities. A majority of staff (64%) in pre-primary settings indicate that working with children with special educational needs was addressed in their recent training activities. Yet, 65% report report a strong level of need for additional budget and training in this area.
  • A lower share of pre-primary leaders report staff shortages and staff absences as hindering the quality of provision compared to other countries and subnational entities, yet staff retention can be a challenge. Fewer leaders than in other countries and subnational entities report staff absences (19%) affect the quality of provision. Although most staff (76%) report being satisfied with their jobs, 64% of staff report they are 'likely' or 'very likely' to leave their staff role to attend to family responsibilities and 43% of staff report being stressed at work.

    • * Estimates for the Flemish Community of Belgium (in ISCED 01), Germany, Ireland, Norway, New Brunswick (Canada) and Quebec (Canada) should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias. Data from New Zealand only represent respondents included in the sample and not the population targeted by the survey.
    | Results from TALIS Starting Strong 2024: Strengthening Early Childhood Education and Care | Country Note | Starting Strong Survey 2024 Conceptual Framework | Education policies: Teachers  |

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    Who the ECEC staff are

    The share of pre-primary settings in Japan that employ staff representative of the diverse backgrounds of the children and families served was among the smallest across countries with available data. (41.3 %, rank 14/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Education and initial preparation of ECEC staff

    |The percentage of pre-primary staff in Japan whose highest level of education is above secondary level (ISCED Level 4 or higher) was among the highest across countries with available data. (99.1 %, rank 2/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Japan, the percentage of pre-primary staff who reported completing education or training programmes that prepared them to work with children was among the highest across countries with available data. (97.5 %, rank 4/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Professional development of ECEC staff

    The proportion of pre-primary staff in Japan whose professional development over the previous 12 months included working with children with special needs was among the highest across countries with available data. (63.9 %, rank 3/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Japan, the share of pre-primary staff who received release from work with children during regular working hours to participate in professional development was among the highest across countries with available data. (57.1 %, rank 2/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Professional development of ECEC leaders

    The percentage of pre-primary leaders in Japan who received coaching in the 12 months prior to the survey was among the highest across countries with available data. (43.2 %, rank 2/13 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teaching students with special needs

    In Japan, the proportion of pre-primary staff reporting a strong level of need for additional budget and training resources to support children with special education needs was among the lowest across countries with available data. (65.2 %, rank 14/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    ECEC staff practices

    In Japan, the share of pre-primary staff who adapted activities in response to children's natural rhythms on at least a daily basis was among the lowest across countries with available data. (43.5 %, rank 14/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The share of pre-primary settings in Japan where consultation with child development specialists takes place at least monthly was among the smallest across countries with available data. (24.5 %, rank 11/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Practices with other ECEC staff and parents or guardians

    In Japan, the percentage of pre-primary staff reporting that parents or guardians are encouraged by staff to do play and learning activities with their children at home was among the lowest across countries with available data. (59.3 %, rank 14/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of pre-primary staff in Japan who co-designed activities or content for children’s development, well-being and learning with colleagues at least monthly was among the lowest across countries with available data. (76 %, rank 13/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    ECEC staff practices facilitating socio-emotional development

    The proportion of pre-primary staff in Japan who reported helping children express their feelings at least once a day during the most recent complete calendar week was among the lowest across countries with available data. (75.1 %, rank 11/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    ECEC staff job satisfaction

    In Japan, the percentage of pre-primary staff who reported being all in all satisfied with their job was among the lowest across countries with available data. (75.9 %, rank 14/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Japan, the share of pre-primary staff who reported being “likely” or “very likely” to leave their staff role to attend to family responsibilities was among the largest across countries with available data. (64.4 %, rank 1/13 , 2024) Download Indicator

    ECEC leaders' job satisfaction

    The percentage of pre-primary leaders in Japan reporting that staff absences hinder their capacity to provide a quality environment for children “quite a bit” or “a lot” was among the lowest across countries with available data. (18.5 %, rank 13/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Japan, the proportion of pre-primary setting leaders who “agree” or “strongly agree” that they need more support from local, municipal/regional, state or national/federal authorities was among the largest across countries with available data. (85.3 %, rank 2/14 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Working conditions of ECEC staff

    The percentage of pre-primary staff in Japan who reported that having extra duties due to absent staff is a source of stress “quite a bit” or “a lot” was among the lowest across countries with available data. (25.2 %, rank 10/14 , 2024) Download Indicator


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    General findings
    
                        
    
                            
    
                                
    • Public and private ECEC settings are unevenly distributed. Public settings are more common in rural areas and in neighbourhoods perceived as less favourable by leaders in several countries and subnational entities.
    • In many systems, leaders in public settings report facing more challenges than their counterparts in private settings including a higher proportion of vulnerable children (e.g., from socio-economically disadvantaged homes), less adequate physical space (e.g., poor ventilation, high background noise), and less communication with families.
    
                            
    
                            
    
                                | Education policies: Learning environment | 
    
                            
    
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    • ECEC staff activities support child development, with a particular emphasis on social and emotional growth. Practices like encouraging children to help each other and express their feelings are used daily by a majority of ECEC staff in all countries and subnational entities.
    • ECEC staff spend most of their time in direct contact with children, though this varies widely between survey participants. – from 68% in Colombia to 90% in Denmark. Notably, if staff work longer hours this does not necessarily mean they spend more time with children.
    • Engaging in other tasks while in contact with children is common in all systems. However, some staff lack dedicated time for tasks not involving children. Planning or preparing activities alone is the work-related task consistently associated with staff reporting they work longer hours.
    
                            
    
                            
    
                                | Education policies: Teacher practices | 
    
                            
    
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    • Most ECEC staff are trained to work with children. They have at least post-secondary education (ISCED Level 4 or higher), with rates ranging from 87% in settings for children under age 3 in Israel to 99% in pre-primary settings in Spain and Türkiye.
    • Ongoing professional development is often limited to courses and seminars. These formats are used by over 60% of staff across all countries and subnational entities. More effective formats, such as job-embedded training and collaborative learning approaches (e.g., coaching or induction), are less common.
    • Staff report a strong need for additional budget and training resources to support children with special education needs.
    
                            
    
                            
    
                                | Education policies: Teacher initial education | Education policies: Teacher professional development | Education policies: School leader preparation and development | 
    
                            
    
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    • Job satisfaction among ECEC staff and leaders is high. Over 90% of staff in most countries and subnational entities report they are satisfied and feel valued by parents and children.
    • The percentage of staff reporting work-related stress varies substantially across systems. It ranges from under 20% in pre-primary education in Colombia and Israel to over 75% in Germany, in both levels of ECEC. In many countries and subnational entities, having too many tasks at the same time and performing extra duties are top sources of stress.
    • Leaders identify staff absences and shortages as the main barrier to providing quality environments for children. Staff also report that a lack of substitutes is a major barrier to participation in professional development activities.
    
                            
    
                            
    
                                | Education policies: Teacher working conditions | Education policies: School leader working conditions | 
    
                            
    
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    • In most systems, a majority of ECEC leaders report a need for greater support from local, regional or national authorities. The share reaches 85% or more in pre-primary settings in Colombia, Japan and Morocco.
    
                            
    
                            
    
                                | Education policies: School leadership | 
    
                            
    
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            Diagram of funding flows - Japan
            
    
            
    
        
    


        
		
    
            
    
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            Country Reviews for Japan
            
    
            
    
			
    
        
    
		
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
        
    
            Note: These values should be interpreted with care since they are influenced by countries' specific contexts and trade-offs. In education, there is often no simple
            most- or least-efficient model. For instance, the share of private expenditure in education must be read against other measures designed to mitigate inequities, 
			such as loans and grants; longer learning time is an opportunity to convey more and better content to students, but may hinder investments in other important
            areas. If you want further information on the nature of different variables, please take the time to read the analysis and contextual information, available at the website
            for each publication.
    
            All rankings for individual variables are compiled on the basis of OECD and G20 countries for which data are available. The OECD average includes only OECD countries which are listed here: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/members-partners.html
            

    
			Reference years displayed in the Education GPS correspond to the most common year of reference among countries for which data is available on each variable. Data for the latest available year is preferred and some 
			countries may have provided data refering to a more recent or late year. To know more about possible exceptions on data please click on the "Download Indicator" link on each variable. When a year of reference corresponds to a school year encompassing two years, the reference reads as follows: 2026 for school year 2025/2026.
			

    
	    *TALIS averages are based on all countries participating in the TALIS survey, including partner countries and economies. 
		This explains the difference between the OECD average and the TALIS averages.
		Data from the TALIS survey and Education at a Glance (EAG) may differ. See Annex E of the TALIS technical report and 
		Annex 3 
		of EAG 2024 for more details about the data collections.
            

    
            For additional notes, please refer to annexes in the list of links below the introductory country profile text.